Sir James Munby, President of the High Court Family Division, has made a very clear formal declaration that the UK law on surrogacy discriminates against single parents and that this is incompatible with their human rights.

A declaration such as this could lead to a change in the law.

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The President of the Family Division has now declared that the law is incompatible with the father’s and the child’s human rights, and discriminates against them. In an unprecedented move, the Secretary of State for Health decided not to oppose the father’s application, conceding that UK law breached human rights legislation and consenting to the court making a declaration of incompatibility. Although only Parliament can change the law, declarations of incompatibility under the Human Rights Act are unusual and carry significant weight: only 20 final declarations have ever been made, and all but one have prompted the law being changed. However, the government has not yet said whether it plans to push forward reform.